Highway agencies preparing to tackle new technologies can learn a lot from agencies that have already evaluated those technologies. To give highway agencies and others a chance to share information about acquiring and using many of the products of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Maryland Department of Transportation (DOT) will host a 2-day conference in October. The conference is geared to managers, technical staff, and others from State and local highway agencies and industry in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The Mid-Atlantic States SHRP Technology Exchange Conference will feature panel discussions and presentations by representatives of FHWA, industry, and State highway agencies, including representatives of the Lead States teams for Superpave, alkali-silica reactivity, concrete assessment and rehabilitation, innovative maintenance materials, high-performance concrete, and anti-icing/road weather information systems. Vendors will also be on hand to display their SHRP products.

"The conference will emphasize SHRP technologies that States are actually using and have experience with," says Maryland DOT's John Scally. "This way, we can tell people about the known ins and outs of the technologies and any issues that may be specific to the mid-Atlantic region."

After opening remarks from, FHWA Executive Director Tony Kane, Maryland State Highway Administrator Parker Williams, Pennsylvania DOT Chief Engineer Gary Hoffman, and other high-level officials from FHWA and the States, the conference will split into three tracks: highway operations, concrete and structures, and asphalt.

The highway operations sessions will emphasize techniques, materials, and equipment for preventive maintenance of, and routine repairs to, pavements, including techniques that are primarily of interest to local highway agencies. There will also be presentations on SHRP work zone safety devices and on the use of road weather information systems in winter maintenance operations.

The concrete and structures sessions will cover the design and construction of high-performance concrete bridges and pavements, means of preventing and treating alkali-silica reactivity, concrete durability issues, and tools and techniques for assessing, repairing, and rehabilitating steel-reinforced concrete structures.

The asphalt sessions will focus on the Superpave mix design system. Speakers will relate State, national, and industry experiences with the Superpave system. The sessions will also provide an update on current research projects, including FHWA's Superpave software models project being conducted by the University of Maryland.

The Mid-Atlantic States SHRP Technology Exchange Conference will be held October 13-14 in Hagerstown, Maryland. For more information, contact John Scally at Maryland DOT (phone: 410-582-5535; fax: 410-582-9862; email: jscally@sha.state.md.us) or Hassan Raza at FHWA's Maryland division (phone: 410-962-4342, ext. 132; fax: 410-962-4054; email: hassan.raza@fhwa.dot.gov). Information is also available through the Internet (www.fhwa.dot.gov/mddiv/mdevents.htm#tech).